| Visiting the Arants |
Saturday June 14th, 2008 10:48 PM |
 Dad opted to fly back to Austin instead of drive (thankfully!). Thus, Herschel is driving us both to the airport early tomorrow morning. I'm finally heading to Costa Rica. After the SoBe Interational Triathlon, Dad and I drove up from Fort Lauderdale to Atlanta stopping in Gainesville for some dinner at Maui Teriyaki and some much needed sleep in Valdosta. We stayed in Locust Grove visiting Candee, Herschel, Lauren, and Elliott for a week. Candee's blessings continue as Elliott is another wonderfully happy baby; he cries only occasionally but otherwise seems content and happy with his world. He basically eats, sleeps, and poops. And don't think it's all dominated by eating and sleeping, he's potent for such a little fellow. He was kind enough to give me a little gift while sitting on my lap. When it happened, it was completely unexpected. It was nice and quiet in the room, no warning for innocent bystanders, and out of nowhere the loud eruption and rumbling that came from this 10-pounder made me jump right out of my seat. He seemed to think it was quite normal, and I could almost discern a look of concern and puzzlement on his face due to my reaction. Herschel found the whole incident rather humorous; I think Elliott did too. Elliott's potency was no match for the diaper. Despite the super-absorbent technology advertised on television, diapers still need improvement. I now have respect for the guy; maybe I'm even a little jealous. =)
Lauren is in the prime of her "terrible twos and threes" yet is a pleasure to be around. Overall, she's well-behaved and is such a sweet little kid. It's great now that she's talking and making complete sentences, and interesting listening to her learn the English language. One afternoon, as some thunder clouds rolled in and the tops of the trees started to sway, she said "it looks like it is going to wind".
She loves Barney, likes music class and Pump It Up, enjoys chicken but not so fond of Grandpa's cooking, and loves her little brother. Thanks so much to Candee and Herschel for the hospitality and I can't wait to see everyone again for Christmas. A video of the kids was posted and pics will be added soon. Since we're waking up at 5am, I'm signing off now. I'll write again from San Joaquin. |
| Add a comment |
|
|
|
| Elliott Wade Arant |
Tuesday May 13th, 2008 01:43 PM |
 On Sunday, Sook was driving to Tampa to visit her Mom for Mother's Day and got into an accident on I-75. Someone swerved in front of her, almost hit her, and she lost control of her car; no other cars were involved and she is ok but her car flipped onto its side and a lot of damage was done to her Scion. Thankfully, no injuries but another scary incident.
Yesterday, I picked up my car from the towing company. The car was situated in a way that the passenger side of the car was facing us when we arrived. The car looked fine. I could see the airbags had gone off, but the damage did not look bad. When I saw the driver's side of the car, I was shocked how bad it was. I would never have guessed it to be that bad. It looks like I'm pretty lucky. See pictures here.
More bad news, but on a global scale: disaster struck China in Sichuan province with a 7.9 magnitude earthquake that was felt over 1000 miles away. The team we work with at Motorola is in Nanjing Jiangsu Province fairly far away from Sichuan. Nonetheless, we hope the best for the Chinese during this disaster.
Despite all the bad news, I'll end the blog with some great news: Elliott Wade Arant was born yesterday evening at 6:02pm. Candee was in 11 hours of labor starting at 7am and then Elliott was born at 9 lbs. 2 ozs. Everyone is doing fine. Elliott has bright blond hair.
Also, Rowan is now over two months old and is doing great. You can view Holly's blog here. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Thursday May 15th, 2008 10:02 AM |
|
SR says:
I had an Apple IIc too! And I played Transylvania and some Olympic game. . .teehee.
|
|
| Wednesday May 14th, 2008 09:42 PM |
|
Leslie says:
I like Elliott's middle name....he must have a cool uncle!
|
|
|
| Car Accident |
Sunday May 11th, 2008 01:17 PM |
I was released from the hospital last night after being in a car accident on Friday. Thankfully everything is fine. My head and neck still hurt a bit but my memory and brain seem to be functioning normally, i.e. normally as in "the same as before the accident". Hehe, I don't want any smart alec comments on my blog =). I blacked out and my memory from when the accident occurred until about 6 hours afterwards is very spotty. As such, I will try to recall what I can remember:
At around 4pm, as I was leaving Motorola on Marcano and turning left onto University, a car driving north bound on University hit the front left of my car. I remember seeing smoke (which was probably from the airbags), trying to move the gearshift into park, trying to open my door (i think it was stuck), and vaguely remember thinking that I need to get out of the passenger side door. I assume I climbed over and got out of the passenger side of the door but not entirely sure. Nonetheless, I got out of the car and was sitting in the grass on the side of the road. I remember trying to think what day it was and was concerned because I could not remember. Not even close; as in I didn't know what month or year it was. The next thing I remember was being inside the ambulance. I only have a snippet of memory from there. After that, I was in a hospital bed in a room at the ER (at Westside Regional Medical Center in Plantation). I do remember my doctor was an Indian guy whose name was Venkatasamy or some such. My nurse was Greg. I vaguely remember other doctors and nurses coming in and asking me questions, taking blood, etc. Apparently during this time I had a catscan but I have no recollection of that. I think it was around 6:30pm my friends arrived and my memory was improving a bit. I vaguely remember trying to make jokes and whatnot; probably my reaction to stressful situations. Mike, Byron, Shea, Meredith, and Jackie were all there and Kelly came later. Apparently, a police officer came to the house so Byron knew where I was and that I had been in a car accident. Everyone said I was repeating myself and my short-term memory was almost nonexistent. I also remember Phillip calling but Shea was there and answered the phone. It was a call to the hospital, not my cell phone. All my stuff, including my cell phone, was still in the car at Interstate Towing. It's still there as they are closed until Monday.
Since I had a concussion and was not acting normally, the doctors told me I would have to spend the night at the hospital and have more tests done in the morning. They moved me out of ER to the fifth floor. I was not allowed any food and at first was not allowed water. At about midnight I tried going to sleep. I remember being slightly paranoid about the saline drip injecting air bubbles into my bloodstream. That, along with the noises from the medical equipment, and someone down the hall moaning all night, I didn't sleep so well. I vaguely remember someone coming in at 3am, I believe they took blood but not sure. Another nurse came in at 5:30am. Someone else came in with breakfast but I just fell back asleep. Finally, I got up around 8:30am (I think) and ate some full-liquid-diet breakfast. Yum. To conduct tests, I was moved from my room to the downstairs labs by the transporter (such a cool name for a not-so-cool job). I had another catscan and five neck x-rays. All tests came back negative and I was told I would likely be released from the hospital. By this time, I felt a lot better, my memory was all coming back, and I felt normal again. Byron and Shea stopped by with my glasses just after lunchtime. Speaking of lunch, I had gelatin cubes, pudding, and strained soup. Mmmm-Mmmm. As soon as my primary care doctor reviewed the x-rays, they would release me. Since we weren't sure how long it would take, Byron and Shea went to the car dealership to look for a new car. I listened to some hip-hop from Jackie's iPod, watched some Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade on USA and they finally released me at around 5:30pm. Byron and Shea were still at the car dealership so Mike picked me up.
Just wanted to give a special thank-you to all my friends who helped out during this time. Please do not feel hurt in some way because I did not call you. I did not have my cell phone with me (and I still don't have it) so I didn't have any phone numbers. Plus I wasn't exactly coherent through this whole thing. Everything now seems fine. I slept 11 hours last night and, except for a slight pain in my head and neck, everything is good. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Monday May 19th, 2008 04:14 PM |
|
Kristin says:
What a harrowing ordeal! I am very glad to hear that you will be OK.
|
|
| Wednesday May 14th, 2008 09:44 PM |
|
Leslie says:
WOW! Glad you are ok. Now you can justify getting that new car.
|
|
| Wednesday May 14th, 2008 01:31 PM |
|
Ali says:
So sorry to hear about your accident! Hope your doing better now, take it easy for a while.
|
|
| Tuesday May 13th, 2008 10:11 AM |
|
SR says:
I'm glad you're ok, EP! What a weekend, huh? We can go car shopping together! (although, I'll probably just get the same car again. . .is that lame?)
|
|
| Sunday May 11th, 2008 11:23 PM |
|
Dad says:
You can buy a new one when you get back from CR, we'll rent for Candee, OK and Austin, maybe, what you think? Call when you get your phone.
|
|
| Sunday May 11th, 2008 09:08 PM |
|
DD says:
Wow, I'm glad you're OK. Did they catch the person that hit you?
|
|
| Sunday May 11th, 2008 07:43 PM |
|
Candee says:
Glad to hear you are okay. I wish I could have been there with you in the hospital. Our phone numbers are 770 xxx xxxx or 404 xxx xxxx [edited] in case you need them before you get your cell phone back.
|
|
| Sunday May 11th, 2008 07:24 PM |
|
Carrie says:
Glad to hear you're OK, let us know if you need anything.
|
|
| Sunday May 11th, 2008 07:04 PM |
|
Wade says:
Yes, I had my seatbelt on, and a small bruise on my left shoulder to prove it - the only exterior mark that showed I had been in an accident. I have no idea what part of my head was hit, I assume the back part, which is where it hurts the most, but that's just a guess. It was my car, the RSX, which kind of puts a damper on our plans to drive it up to Atlanta; I saw the police officer yesterday and he said it was totaled.
|
|
| Sunday May 11th, 2008 06:53 PM |
|
Dad says:
Knock some sense into ya! Who's Car? did you have a seat belt on? Where did you hit, front, back, side? Take care!
|
|
| Sunday May 11th, 2008 04:22 PM |
|
Aunt Mary B. says:
Glad you're okay. Frightening indeed.
|
|
| Sunday May 11th, 2008 02:33 PM |
|
Rohit says:
God... that was frightening!
|
|
|
| Pura Vida |
Friday April 18th, 2008 01:59 PM |
I've made arrangements for homestay in San Joaquin de Flores. I was previously leaning towards Barrio Jesus but found an immersion program more suited to what I was looking for in San Joaquin. Homestay entails living with a local family and includes breakfast and dinner, for $400 per month. San Joaquin de Flores is located 2.5 miles west of Heredia near the capital San Jose. Here is San Joaquin on google maps. I plan on going to school four hours per day and volunteering the rest of the day in an ecology or social program. I will not know the specifics until I arrive in Costa Rica. I stumbled upon an interesting blog about CR. Of particular interest and humor are the stories of deadbolts (article 4), TP (article 5), Gimme an I (article 12), tuna and bananas (article 20), and getting robbed (article 38). My trip will probably be a lot different with a lot less travel and more emphasis on school and volunteering, i.e. not quite as exciting. After Costa Rica I'll be rearing to work again, so I'll find a job and probably buy a house. By then, I'll know a lot of ex-Motorolans at new companies and finding a job, hopefully, will not be too difficult.
Lots of new pictures have been posted so I'm not going to spell them all out. Don't forget to subscribe to the website if you want to be notified by email of updates. Candee is due in 11 days so there should be new pics of her and her new boy on her site soon. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Friday April 18th, 2008 02:11 PM |
|
Sook says:
That sounds like an amazing adventure and learning opportunity! Write often and keep up on the blog for us! :D
|
|
|
| No Mo Moto |
Thursday March 27th, 2008 01:10 PM |
 Motorola announces split, Plantation layoffs
Motorola plans spinoff, cuts South Florida jobs
As part of a workforce reduction, my group is being dramatically cut, and my last day at Motorola will be May 30, 2008. Due to the magnitude of the layoff, it falls under the WARN act, which requires a 60-day notification period between the termination announcement and the last day of work. Since the announcement was made before April 1, i.e. before Motorola's new severance policy takes effect, we will receive the severance based on the old severance policy (a good thing), which equates to a 4-month severance. As part of the package, medical insurance is retained until the end of the severance period, which is the end of September. Dental coverage terminates at the end of the WARN period, i.e. May.
Besides settling insurance, 401k, stock options, motshare, pension, etc., the big question is what to do next. I'm definitely leaning towards spending some time in Costa Rica, but it would be great to have a job lined up when I get back. Motorola is setting up job fairs and providing excellent opportunities to make contact with companies looking to hire engineers with our skill set, so it would be a shame not to take up this opportunity. Thus, I'm hoping to find a company that's not looking for immediate employment but is willing to hire me in the September or October time-frame. It's been an eventful month, and I'll keep you posted on things as they progress. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Sunday March 30th, 2008 02:03 AM |
|
Rohit says:
I hope something good turns out for you from all this mess!
|
|
| Thursday March 27th, 2008 06:14 PM |
|
Damian says:
Dang.. that sounds sweet.. Maybe I should have stuck around!
|
|
|
| Barrio Jesus Costa Rica |
Thursday March 06th, 2008 12:37 AM |
 Someday, I don't know when - perhaps between jobs, I'd like to stay several months in Costa Rica or other country that doesn't speak English. So I have a plan when this "someday" does occur, I'm investigating staying in Barrio Jesus, Costa Rica. It's a tiny town northwest of Heredia between Barva and Santa Barbara. Debbie Cherry lived in Costa Rica for five years so she's been great in helping me get information and contacts in Costa Rica. There is a school/hostelry called La Casa que Canta (The House that Sings) that I'm considering. Here's the site for Casa que Canta.
Of other interest, I've stumbled upon two websites that I really like (not quite as much as Wikipedia, but pretty good): Life Hacker and HowStuffWorks. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Tuesday March 18th, 2008 10:50 PM |
|
Sook says:
Great new pics, Wade!
|
|
|
| Sarah Silverman |
Sunday March 02nd, 2008 11:09 AM |
 Updates: First off, congratulations to Holly and Jeremy for their new baby boy Rowan. It's their first child. Another birth: my younger sister is due to deliver in April. I saw her and Carrie, last weekend for Natalie and Chris' scuba certification. They may be coming down to Fort Lauderdale for spring break to go scuba diving next month. Dave and Lori are talking about doing another Blackbeards liveaboard. We're afraid this may be our last year that everyone will be in South Florida as many people are getting laid off at Motorola. Ilya has already been canned and Dave is worried about the 3G group not lasting. Furthermore, CEO Greg Brown has vowed to fix Mobile Devices, even if that means a spinoff or selloff. Nobody really knows what's going to happen. The Perth Australia group was axed last week.
In addition to new babies, Byron and Shea are now engaged along with Charbel/Katya and Nitin/Carolina. Congrats to all!
If you haven't been up-to-date on youtube and popular culture, here's some good ones (fyi, for those not in the know, Jimmy Kimmel's girlfriend is Sarah Silverman):
Jimmy and Matt Part 1
Jimmy and Matt Part 2 (warning: bad language)
Flight of the Conchords
Everyday Goings-on: Went to The Standard Hotel in SoBe. Talked about Bunny and Shad Roe, had free Grolsch, and I believe some bums from Miami snuck in the hotel/museum party as well. Pulled a muscle during the A1A marathon and was very upset with myself. Sook and Mike finished with good times. Our soccer team lost in the first round of the tournament against a team we demolished during the regular season. Just wasn't our day. Now that soccer season is over, time to start training for an olympic tri. =)
New Pics: Check out Flamingo Gardens, Costa Rica, Kingshead, Philadelphia, Global Day of Service, and the Tradewinds Triathlon.
That's all for now... |
| Add a comment |
|
| Tuesday March 25th, 2008 09:36 PM |
|
nicki says:
i didn't add my last name because in the sight it seems to focus on wade's last name, and thought is it a grand last name, i am not married, and am still keeping last name. I have been reading your website...and I hope to hear from you soon. I have checked out Ali's website since I know you she is a friend of you and Leslie (and Amy's thought sadly she and I are no longer close). I saw the blog and, though I appreciate information about cancer, as someone who doesn't know them personally...the blog was a bit too personal for me.....but I wish them the best and a speedy recovery! Love, Nicki
|
|
|
| Livestrong |
Sunday February 03rd, 2008 04:38 PM |
 A few weeks ago I received an email from Ali titled simply "Cancer". Something felt wrong even before I opened the mail, but I would have never guessed what I read. Dan, my good buddy from college, about the same age as myself, fit, healthy, smart, recently married and about to receive his PhD, was diagnosed with cancer. Dan and Ali actually found out the news on Friday December 28, 2007 and have been in and out of the hospital with scans, tests, and doctor visits ever since. The name of the cancer is Seminoma, Stage II testicular cancer (Lance Armstrong had testicular cancer) and is actually most common between the ages of 15-34 years. Testicular cancer has a very high cure rate especially if it has not metastasized. Unfortunately, Dan's cancer had significant lymph node involvement and he'll have to undergo both radiation and chemotherapy. Dan started chemotherapy January 28 and has been documenting his journey here. He and Ali purchased Livestrong shirts and bracelets and don't plan on removing the bracelets until he is cancer free. Dan, we're thinking of you, you'll conquer the cancer, and keep up your great attitude. |
| Add a comment |
|
|
|
| Thai Life Insurance Commercial |
Saturday December 01st, 2007 09:53 AM |
 Also, referred to as the Saddest Commercial Ever or the Most Intense Commercial Ever. Check it out here. |
| Add a comment |
|
|
|
| Android |
Saturday November 17th, 2007 01:22 PM |
 Check out Google's Android Platform, an open source operating system and platform for mobile phones. Lots of folks balked at Android, as is usual for anything open source (think Linux versus Windows operating systems). For example, CEO of Microsoft: "Their efforts are just some words on paper right now. They have a press release, we have many, many millions of customers, great software, many hardware devices and they're welcome in our world." Nokia stated "If we would see this as beneficial we would think about taking part in it." So, is this really a big deal?
Here's why Android is a big deal. The fact that the platform is coming from Google IS a big deal in and of itself as it will inspire software developers to create mobile applications especially because of the flexibility provided by the platform, breaking the stranglehold wireless carriers place on the existing platforms. This is a step in the right direction: unlocked phones, unsubsidized phones, and carriers concentrating on service with handset makers concentrating on handsets. AND, most important, unleashing the creativity and desire of the mobile phone community to create new and exciting applications. This quintessential Web 2.0 way of thinking is at the heart of Google's platform.
The Android platform is multimedia-centric, designed and architected with rich graphics and audio, desktop-like web browsing capability, and standard APIs for application interaction. The handset makers know that multimedia phones are going to dominate the market in the next five years and this new platform is well suited for the future. Motorola, HTC, LG, and Samsung all support the Open Handset Alliance, but notably missing from the group is handset-giant Nokia.
What happened to the gPhone? There was no gPhone and Google has no intention of making a Google phone. Android is a platform and therefore has a much broader reach. As a platform, it's not competing against the RAZR2 or the iPhone, it's competing against Symbian, Windows Mobile, and OS X. Motorola was working on the same idea: a multi-media centric Linux-Java platform upon which to develop a rich variety of phones. The idea is not revolutionary nor will it change the cell phone arena instantly. But because it is a platform not limited to a single handset maker (such as Motorola), the power of this platform is much greater.
If done right, which so far looks to be the case, the new Android platform may be the answer to the multimedia user's frustrations with restricted, glitchy, and clumsy UI, as a multitiude of options will exist upon which to update and customize ones mobile phone.
More info on Wikipedia's article. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Tuesday November 27th, 2007 12:28 PM |
|
Wade says:
Verizon Wireless To Introduce ‘Any Apps, Any Device’ Option For Customers In 2008, see more here.
|
|
|
| The Hunt is Back...Bigger, Better, and Sandier than Ever! |
Tuesday November 06th, 2007 12:23 AM |
 Dave Barry and Tom Schroder did it again, in my opinion the best ever. The Herald Hunt newspaper had jokes on Miami condo developers and Larry Craig, just as an intro to the zanniness that would ensue. The first tough puzzle: Hunters were handed a golf tee with the word 'FORE' printed on it. Hunters had to guess what to do next, as 40 was not a valid clue answer. However, 4-T was a valid set of map coordinates. When Hunters gathered there, they found a golf leaderboard, a list of various names with no apparent connection between the names. Hunters had to figure out that the tee was still the answer to solving the puzzle...as in four Ts. Only one name had four letter Ts in it: Elliott Tarantino, the answer. The second tough puzzle: Hunters initially encountered four Hunt volunteers wearing sandwich boards which had on them one of the following items each: a waffle cone, a chain link, Mark Twain and a key. Hunters had to rearrange the sandwich boards to put them in order: link-cone-mark-key, or 'Lincoln marquee'. Nearby was the Lincoln Theatre, and their marquee was lit up...except some letters were not lit. The unlit letters were 'Lcolna', whereas the lit letters were 'inThetre'. If you rearranged the lit letters, you got 'Thirteen', which was the answer. Our team that year (Lori, Byron, Phillip, and I) were able to get all the answers, albeit requiring some strategic swapping of answers, before the final clue was given. The 5 clues gathered up until that point:
a. The day after the day after yesterday is how many tomorrows more than the day before the week before two weeks from now?
b. Old MacDonald had a sea urchin, E-I-E-I-OWWWWWWW.
c. Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded. Who said that?
d. When the time came, and she finally understood what he had meant to her all these many years, through all those longing glances and murmured endearments, she had him taken out and beaten.
e. Then, lo, the Lone Ranger suddenly appeared in the manger, and proceeded to give a very tedious lecture about stranger danger, which not one of the three kings, who after all had ridden up out of nowhere without introduction, seemed to appreciate.
The final clue: 16, 5, 6, 33, 4.
So, how did we solve it from there? Hunters figured out that each of the five numbers referred to a word in each of the five clues. Taking the 16th word in clue 1, the fifth word in clue 2, etc., you wound up with: BEFORE, SEA, TOO, BEATEN, LONE. After staring at that long enough, some teams realized that they were a series of map coordinates: B4, C2, B10 and L1. On the map at B4 was a caricature of Princess Di. At C2 was Al Gore. At B10 was a doctor. At L1 was a miner. Taken together that gave you: DI AL DOCTOR MINER. You then had to dial Dr. Miner on the phone, which was 376-4637 => DRM-INOR (yes, a cell phone is required to play the hunt). A recording at that number said, "Dr. Miner is not in the office. If this is an emergency, we suggest you try Cornwald and Crabtree." At this point, our team got stuck and after ten more minutes of scratching our heads, the winners were announced. Cornwald and Crabtree were both names Hunters had seen before - on the golf leader board in the "fore tee" puzzle. Cornwald's score was 187. Crabtree's was 301. Those still in the running realized that 187 and 301 referred to additional clues on the clue page from the newspaper. Clue 187 was "PB" and clue 301 was ''NJ.'' Together, that would be PBNJ, or PB 'n' J, common slang for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. All that, and what do you get? You get-- a SANDWICH! Just to throw you off, there was a picture of a sandwich in the middle of the cartoon map. Unfortunately, this was just a distraction. Dave and Tom would never make it that easy. For those who won, they noticed another picture on the map: on the beach, along the Atlantic near 17th Street, was a cartoon image. It was a WITCH. On the SAND. In other words, a SAND WITCH. They sprinted to the beach at 17th Street and found a woman with a broomstick in a witch hat and a T-shirt that said: "What's your order?" They walked up to the witch and said, "PBNJ," and won.
Can't wait for next year. Plus, they're now doing it in Washington D.C. (The Post Hunt) in addition to the Herald Hunt.
By the way, thanks to Andy for keeping the Archives of all the hunts! |
| Add a comment |
|
|
|
| My Life Abridged |
Thursday November 01st, 2007 09:35 PM |
 Geez. I haven't written in ages. Since the Bahamas, I've been to Texas, Costa Rica, Kansas City, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, ran my first triathlon, finished Angels & Demons, Secret Life of Bees, and the Kite Runner (which is very odd since I rarely read novels), did the Herald Hunt, did more diving, got promoted, and volunteered at KID. Unfortunately my phone was out of service so I didn't receive any calls on my birthday, but had a great time anyway. Everyone was very generous - special thanks to Kelly for the cake, Marcela and Co. for more cake, and Nitin and Carolina for taking me out.
At work, we're heavily involved in the WiMAX phones Silverstone, Bristol, and Sebring. I'm mostly working with the India team on WLAN - a separate team is doing WiMAX. Right now, Motorola seems top heavy and isn't doing anything innovative like Apple's iPhone. It'll be interesting to see what happens. At least there is a strong emphasis on returning to profitability instead of market share. Thankfully.
Check out Movees for great clips of my Grandma's life and Dad's bypass surgery. I'm out of the stock market, too crazy right now. Much of the merchandise from IndieGiant has been liquidated and we're now looking for our next project. According to Chris Noel, "everyone's making money except Byron and Wade". At least he keeps us motivated. So, we're going to IAAPA again this year (in a couple of weeks) in search of more ideas.
Thus concludes my brief summary since I last wrote three months ago. Details of the events, along with pics (of course), coming soon. |
| Add a comment |
|
|
|
| Paul Potts |
Wednesday August 01st, 2007 09:36 PM |
 Bullied as a kid, poor self confidence, and working at car phone warehouse, Paul Potts almost did not enter into ITV's Britain's Got Talent auditions. However, he took a chance to be ridiculed by the unrelenting Simon Cowell, not to mention millions of viewers, and sought to impress the judges and the public by singing operatic arias. During the introduction, the countenance of the judges showed an expectation of a William Hung repeat, but they were in for a surprise. Check out Paul Pott's audition where he sings Giacomo Puccini's Nessun Dorma followed by Con te Partiro. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Sunday September 23rd, 2007 10:42 PM |
|
Ed says:
Dude... this thing was awesome
|
|
| Monday September 17th, 2007 09:02 PM |
|
SR says:
*sniff* It's a tear jerker. . .
|
|
| Monday September 17th, 2007 06:50 PM |
|
Byron says:
This Paul dude is pretty awesome.
|
|
|
| Movies of 2006 |
Saturday July 28th, 2007 12:42 PM |
 The Departed won Best Picture beating out The Queen, Babel, Little Miss Sunshine, and Letters From Iwo Jima. Pirates of the Caribbean 2 raked in the most money (by far) followed by Cars, X-Men 3, and The Da Vinci Code. Those are the critics and the hoi polloi, but this is my blog so here's my take. Hoi polloi...I love that word.
There were only a few good movies of 2006 I'd highly recommend watching: Inside Man, Pan's Labyrinth, An Inconvenient Truth, World Trade Center along with the oscar movies the Departed and Little Miss Sunshine. Good movies also include Apocalypto (if you can take the usual Gibson gore) and Illusionist. Personally I enjoyed Borat and Jackass 2, but these are very crude and not for everyone. But highly entertaining! However, I haven't mentioned my favorite movie of the year: Stranger Than Fiction, definitely the most entertaining movie of the year, and thus it wins my personal vote for Picture of the Year. It's not your usual Will Ferrell movie, so if you don't like him watch it anyway. And let me know what you think. Enjoy. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Monday September 03rd, 2007 09:07 PM |
|
Wade says:
Akeelah and the Bee should be on this list as well! High on the list.
|
|
| Wednesday August 08th, 2007 12:15 PM |
|
Leslie says:
It was definitely a good movie...thanks for recommending it. As for your other top picks, I haven't seen them all, but they're on the list to eventually see.
|
|
| Thursday August 02nd, 2007 10:44 PM |
|
sr says:
Thanks for making me eat the cookie. . .
|
|
|
| Home - The Aramco Brats' Story |
Sunday July 08th, 2007 11:09 AM |
 Check out the new documentary Home - The Aramco Brats' Story. It was directed by fellow classmate Matt Miller and premiered yesterday in LA and will premier in Austin later this month. Unfortunately, my travels to Austin miss the premier by a week; I would have postponed my trip if I had known earlier. Also, check out the main homepage for the documentary here, where you'll find some background info on raising $500,000 for marketing/advertising and the effort to gain a niche market as an educational documentary. |
| Add a comment |
|
|
|
| Blackbeard's Bimini Liveaboard |
Thursday May 24th, 2007 08:27 PM |
 Throughout this year I've been working hard leading the VRIS team on Racer with Camera and the Audio team on Diamondback. Diamondback's speakerphone issues and RWC's m4a and open loop power failures were resolved, DB finally passed STIC labs and RWC goes to STIC next week. With the big issues resolved, I was packing my dive gear and taking off to the Bahamas on Saturday May 12 for a week-long liveaboard.
At 5am, I met Dave and Lori, Chirs, Ilya, and Marc to carpool to port Everglades to catch the Discovery Sun cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Freeport Grand Bahama. With table tennis, dance revolution, the casino, and (unfortunately) the starlight lounge (GQ and Tarzan), we stayed entertained on the five hour trip across the Straits of Florida and the Gulf Stream. After going through immigration we headed off to Taino Beach to Blackbeards where Pirate's Lady and her two sister ships, Morning Star and Sea Explorer, were docked.
Captain Ron, first mate Jeff (Booger), dive master Steph, Shiloh the cook, and Ken the engineer were our crew members. We six from Florida were accompanied by 15 others including 7 from Seattle (Brandon, Doug, Cappy, Gary, John, Karen, Andy), 3 from Ireland (Jill, Tim, Peter), the Rob brothers Jim and Tim, the romantic couple Thom and Diane, and the expert diver David from Georgia who shared the galley with us Florida guys. The first day was no diving, just getting used to the rocking boat, salt water shower, the head with pump flush, and best of all, relaxing, enjoying the ocean, watching the flying fish, sunsets, beautiful night sky, and getting to know the other divers on board the 65 foot boat.
Our first diving day was at Dark Star, Arches, and Laylani all in Gingerbread Grounds, an area south of Grand Bahama and 35 miles from land. Laylani was an afternoon and night dive (same site), where we saw two sea turtles and tiger tail sea cucumbers. Laylani was my second time I’ve ever done a night dive. I was warned but still not prepared for the onslaught of the bloodworms (didn’t have this problem on my first night dive in Mexico). Attracted to the dive light, I only noticed a few worms here and there at the beginning of the dive. If you stayed still for too long, you would begin to feel them on your hands, arms, legs, and around your head; it was like a Wes Craven horror flick. By the end of the dive the worms were so thick they would block the light. It must have been the location and time of year because I can’t imagine that quantity of worms present every night all year long. As long as you kept your dive light moving, it was generally ok. The only consolation was to see them being trapped and eaten by the brain coral when we directed the light over the coral =). Thankfully, the other night dives were not nearly as bad.
The next morning was one of my favorite dives of the trip, a wall dive called Krispy Kreme south of Bimini. At 125 feet below the surface, and crystal clear visibility, the wall was a beautiful cacophony of marine life. I love the everglades and watching the birds and animals, but scuba diving is the ultimate way to interact with animals. The other dives that day included Lunkhead and an afternoon and night dive of a wreck called Miami Rita. At Lunkhead a Caribbean Reef Shark was oddly curious with us scuba divers and swam nearby the whole dive. Generally, the sharks keep their distance but this guy came within just a couple feet of us; maybe it was because of the cut on my leg after the swimthrough =). It became a little choppy and rainy by nightfall, so Dave, Peter, and I were the only ones to dive Miami Rita at night, and it turned out to be the best night dive of the trip. While stormy on top, once we reached the sandy bottom, everything was beautiful and quiet. Lots of lobster, crab, stingray, squirrelfishes, spotted goatfish, and even a pair of bioluminescent cuttlefish.
On the morning of day three was another wall dive called Tuna Alley followed by a shallow dive at The Strip. The Strip was a lot of fun as Chris and I were attacked by a Sergeant Major only to realize he was protecting a purple patch of eggs. At first, we just thought he was a really pissed off fish, but then had a lot of fun harassing his egg patch and watching him go berserk. The little guy had no fear. After backing off and watching him from a distance, he would do the same thing to all the other fish swimming near the egg patch. We only did two dives on Tuesday as we went into port that evening in north Bimini. The Compleat Angler, made famous by Ernest Hemingway, burned down so the most famous bar is the End of the World. Just a little shack with a sand floor and a ceiling full of hanging underwear, it's full of character and still frequented by the locals. After a few Kaliks, there was some dancing, an incident with a dolphin, a lot of markings ("hairway to heaven", "snorkel this", "i love disco"), a French captain, and Cappy adding to the End of the World ceiling.
Highhats, slippery dicks, rock beautys, queen angelfish, porgys, and sand tilefish were all seen at Bimini Barge and Big Greenie, the two morning dives of day four. The third dive was Bull Run, the much anticipated shark dive. Pavlovian sharks tuned to the sounds of Bull Run preparation could be seen from the boat as we geared up. Maybe 30 sharks were awaiting the chum surrounded by fish and a few grouper standing by to pick up the scraps. Also in attendance was Peaches, the Nassau Grouper, who had the unique quality of enjoying to be petted by divers. It reminded me of a fish cleaning station except we divers were the cleaners. Our last dives were Triple Seven, Yellow Brick Road, and Hawkes Bill where we saw bermuda chub, spotted drum, and green moray. On the return trip back to Grand Bahama we stopped and snorkeled the Bimini Road, aka Road to Atlantis.
Between dives we relaxed, ate tons of food, got some sun, played victory lap uno, jumped off the boat on the boom swing (and watch Ilya backflop), fished, slept, talked, etc. It was a great vacation and I can’t wait to do another liveaboard! Don’t worry, I’ll have pictures up soon. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Thursday June 28th, 2007 04:35 PM |
|
SR says:
The pictures were BEAUTIFUL! What an awesome looking trip!! :D
|
|
|
| Low Carb Diets |
Saturday April 28th, 2007 12:31 PM |
 Just wanted to mention some neat links: SuperClaw allows you to play the popular toy crane machine online. It has the nice feature of multiple video cameras to give the user multiple viewing angles. Candee posted new pics and I love this one. Also, I really like this picture Byron posted from China. If you want a fun little game to play, check out Hand Drawn Games.
I read Dr Atkins' Diet Revolution book (first published in 1972), not to go on a diet, but for interest in health and nutrition. I keep hearing about low-carb diets (including the south beach diet), so I wanted to see what it was all about - from the book, not hearsay. Also, when I went for a physical, my doc recommended a low-carb diet, not specifically for me but just as a lifestyle he recommends to all his paitents. And my diet is filled with carbs! So, I read it on my trip to China. I really don't like the Induction Phase where you eat almost zero carbs, and a few other things. But, I did like Atkins' anti-sugar stance. He is also against processed foods, aspartame, caffeine, and trans fats. The book mandates three pillars of health: diet, exercise, and vitamins. Not so sure about the vitamins, as I've always thought you should be able to obtain all necessary vitams through diet (Atkins claims our depleted soils no longer provides all the nutrients fresh produce used to yield). I also liked his deduction that little nagging physical ills, such as headaches, disappear once you eat right and exercise. In addition, a renewed energy level will be found. Some of the foods he recommends: macadamia nuts, avocados, quiches, eggs, and of course all the high protein meats. He is also an advocate of heavy cream and butter, which seems not so good. One of the more interesting items was the effect of medication on the body and how it interferes with the body's balance of hormones, blood sugar level, and mineral and vitamin absorption. I was surprised to see this doctor advocate getting off prescribed medication and replace drugs with proper vitamin and nutritional supplements. So, what am I doing differently? I'm grudgingly :-] taking vitamins my Dad recommended. Eating less sugars (soda, juice, milk, condiments, e.g. ketchup and bbq sauce), a bit less carbs (rice, pasta), and more fish, meat, eggs, nuts, berries, and vegetables. Not that I ate poorly to begin with, but there's always room for improvement. It is interesting, as my wellness instructor said to eat upwards 60-70% of all calories from carbs, and cited several nutritionists and books advocating such a diet. I think this diet is more geared for the professional athelete, but it's interesting (albeit not surprising) to have nutritionists with such polar views. Nonetheless, it seems clear there is something vastly incorrect about today's diet (just look around) compared to 50 years ago. |
| Add a comment |
|
|
|
| Beauty and the Geek |
Friday January 26th, 2007 12:37 AM |
 Reality tv is great! American Idol is usually entertaining, but you gotta watch Beauty and the Geek. Sanjay & Tori, Piao & Sheree, Matt & Andrea have been eliminated. Drew & Erin were eliminated yesterday. Niels & Jennylee, Mario & Nadia, Nate & Cecille, Scooter & Megan are the only couples remaining. Check out some video clips here. Also, you can check out their myspace pages. From one, you can generally find the rest so you can start at Nate's. With Sanjay, who impresses women with his impersonations of household appliances and his 19-pocket vest, Mario, with his $25,000 comic book collection, Nate, who plays in a Star Wars band, and Niels, who claims he is in the top 0.001% of the smartest people on earth, it's just pure entertainment. Just what I'm looking for! |
| Add a comment |
|
|
|
| Florida embarrasses No. 1 Ohio St. to win title |
Sunday January 14th, 2007 09:50 AM |
 Tons of new pics were added: Motorola Volunteer Day, Chicago (Pre, Marathon, Post), Nanjing, Beijing, IAAPA/LocustGrove, VRIS Christmas Party, Mangrove Canoeing, Texas/Christmas, Natlie's Birthday, and Miscellaneous Pics. Also, some old ones were added including: Paynes Prairie, Hooters, and St. Patrick's Day. Also, the 2005 pics were updated with new comments. You can now subscribe to WadeTheFred to receive updates to the site via email. I've enhanced Candee's site and set up SchreiberPhotos.com and BurkTile.com. And, finally, a new IAAPA video was uploaded. Enjoy all the new stuff.
Dad has added some movees to his site, I really like "Granny Begins".
From the Associated Press: Everybody got it wrong except the Gators. Turns out Florida was too good to be on the same field as Ohio State, and that Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and the Buckeyes were the ones who weren’t worthy. Coach Urban Meyer’s once-beaten Gators dominated the undefeated Buckeyes and streaked to college football’s national championship, 41-14 on Monday night. “Honestly, we’ve played a lot better teams than them,” Florida defensive end Jarvis Moss said. “I could name four or five teams in the SEC that could probably compete with them and play the same type of game we did against them.” Chris Leak and Tim Tebow showed off Meyer’s twin quarterback system to perfection as the Gators became the first Division I school to hold national titles in football and basketball at the same time.
I leave for China on February 2. I've dedicated some days to shopping so let me know if you want me to bring anything back. I'm waiting for Windows Vista to come out before buying a new computer. My single core, 256MB RAM, and 32MB video card just doesn't cut it these days. That's all for now. Take care everyone! |
| Add a comment |
|
|
|
| Animal House |
Friday December 22nd, 2006 10:14 AM |
 With 15 people, 3 dogs, 3 cats, and a bird, it's a veritable zoo at the Rigoulot's. Robert, Carrie, Natalie, Chris, Candee, Herschel, Lauren, Suzy, Dave, Holly, David, Mickey, Dad, Debbie, and myself - along with Storm, RC, Gherkin, Gig'Em, Bronson, KoKo (aka Evil Kitty), and KitKat. Robert and Carrie have a game room with foosball, pingpong table, and dart board. Mickey brought his PS3 so we've got Tiger Wood's golf on the 52" flat screen, not to mention the magic bars, neiman marcus cookies, blondies, no-bake cookies, drop cookies, hersey kiss cookies, pistachio bread, and s'mores to keep us going. I went to Leander TX to visit my Dad and Debbie and to check out their new place. We finished up my Christmas shopping, went to Lifetime Fitness and played racquetball, ate some sardines and salad for dinner, wrapped all my presents - including the IndieGiant gifts for the white elephant-style Christmas Eve. Chris has pimped out my myspace page, we watched the basketball fights on youtube (Carmelo Anthony docked for 15 games), and indiegiant had record orders (koosh balls sold out). Peeshaw. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Thursday January 04th, 2007 11:30 PM |
|
Robert says:
Storm was there, but he's on the shelf
|
|
| Thursday December 28th, 2006 12:57 AM |
|
Suzy says:
But you're having tons of fun in the zoo...right?? :-) P.S. KoKo is affended at the whole 'Evil Kitty' reference..I've ordered her to torment you tonight in your sleep. Meow..........
|
|
| Saturday December 23rd, 2006 07:04 PM |
|
Sookini says:
The marathon pics were so awesome I want to do one now! I'm so proud of you. . .it's quite an accomplishment to top off all the runs you've already done!! Oh, and go gators. . .86-60
|
|
|
| We're Going to the National Championship! |
Sunday December 03rd, 2006 10:54 PM |
 The Trojans lost, the Gators beat the Razorbacks, and the BCS thought the Wolverines' schedule was too weak, so we're going to Glendale and the BCS national championship game! Wooohooo!! January 8th is the date. Do I think we'll win? No. Do I hope we win? Of course! It's going to be fun! =)
So, it's been a while since I have written. We had a volunteer day at Motorola, went to Chicago for the marathon, traveled to China for 2 weekends, went to Atlanta for IAAPA and saw Candee, Herschel, and Lauren along with Chris and Cheryl Noell, went to a Miami Dolphis game, had a crazy Thanksgiving, went ice skating, had our iDEN Christmas party at Taverna Opa, and now things are settling down...sort of. The Motorola Gala is on Thursday, I'm off to Texas (and maybe Tucson) in two weeks and then off to China again in January. Pics of all the above will be uploaded...some day. =)
Candee has uploaded more great pics like this one. |
| Add a comment |
|
|
|
| Chicago Marathon. Check. |
Friday October 27th, 2006 09:52 AM |
 After 5 hours and 20 minutes of running, 1 power bar, 5 shot bloks, 1 banana, untold amounts of water and gatorade, 37 degree weather, 20 mph winds, and spectators cheering us on for 26.2 miles, I finally crossed the finish line in Grant Park. Everyone from Plantation Motorola (Beatriz M artinez, Wafa A bdulRazzaq, Marcela T odd, Eric L im, Greg R aven, Bill S kidmore, Chuck L ail, Veronica G hoghos, Jocelyn N orris, Gold, Victoria, Allan, Daniel, and about 10 others) finished and got their medal. It was the best marathon ever. The Farland siblings, Spencer and Ali, cheered us on - they met us in four different places along the course. After about mile 22, I felt if I sawed my feet off and ran on nubs it would be more comfortable. No, I'm not being dramatic. Ok, maybe a little. Yes, it was rough at the end. Probably one of the hardest things I've ever done. We met up with Eric around mile 3 but he already couldn't feel his knee and we soon passed him. Around mile 7 we caught up with Marcela. She soon left us at mile 11 or so as we started falling behind. Beatriz's knee started hurting and she started walking more than running. Wafa and I couldn't keep walking so we left B at mile 14. I felt fine until about mile 18. Then I started to lose enthusiasm mentally since we had lost so much time earlier in the race and probably because I had been running for almost 4 hours. I felt better at mile 21 but still walked more than I should have. At about mile 23 I started to run more simply because I started getting cold. The temperature at 1pm was the same as it was at 8am. Nonetheless, I ran the last mile nonstop, finished without injury, and couldn't wait to get some warm clothes on, eat some real food, and stretch. It was tough but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I did it!
| WADE | Bib #37450 | COOPER CITY, FL - UNITED STATES | Age 29 | M | USA | | START | 5K | 10K | 15K | 20K | HALF | 25K | 30K | 35K | 40K | FINISH | | 8:17:44 AM | 0:42:04 | 1:21:27 | 1:56:00 | 2:33:07 | 2:42:32 | 3:14:19 | 3:48:14 | 4:28:21 | 5:05:57 | 5:22:01 | | TIME | Chip Time: 5:22:01 | Clock: 5:40:46 | Pace: 12:16 |
|
Check out live coverage of the 2006 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon here. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Sunday December 03rd, 2006 10:56 PM |
|
Wade says:
Thanks so much for everyone's support!
|
|
| Thursday November 09th, 2006 02:26 PM |
|
Sook says:
Congratulations on completing your first Full Marathon! Still jet lagged from China?
|
|
| Friday October 27th, 2006 12:29 PM |
|
Jocelyne says:
Hey Wade: Congratulations in finishing your first FULL! You are now an official member of the FULL club. I am so proud of you. I know it hurt, but how great did you feel when you crossed that finish line? It was a lot of fun training with you this summer and I hope we can train together again. Maybe you are going to stick with 1/2's from now on? :)
|
|
| Friday October 27th, 2006 10:57 AM |
|
Wade says:
I'm leaving to China today but I'll try to upload some pics while I'm away. I'll be back next weekend.
|
|
|
| White and Nerdy |
Sunday October 01st, 2006 09:55 PM |
 Less than three weeks to go before the Chicago marathon! After running 8 half marathons, I was finally talked into running a full. I'll be running with 40,000 others starting at Grant Park, past the Sears Tower, along Lake Michigan, through Chinatown, and back to the Loop. The whole course is lined with 1.5 million cheering spectators! Can't wait!
At work, I'm now leading the Australia team for dual-mode BP support, India team for Audio, and China team for Racer/Camera VRIS support. I'm working with (yes, I'm adding spaces so the names don't show up in search engines): China- Li "Leon" L iang, Zhang Y an, Yu "Vic" Z hao Chun, Zhao "Ritchie" X uewei, Ci "Hunter" X iaoyong. India- Rohit M alaviya, Siva K adakarai, Sandeep P atil, Sumit K umar, Rakesh J ain. Australia- Stefan S tefanov, Maciej M atuszak, Anuj A tri, Phil G reenhalgh, Ashley L awrie, Morris B ahrami, Daniel A znar, Peter R yan. Chandler AZ- Fred V illa, Valentin B ustamante, Dan L evesque, Jemma G omez, Brent M cKay. San Diego CA- Sam L iggett, Rey N icolas, Deepak K undra. Plantation FL- Razi A li, Ketan S hah, Minh H oggarth, Hao N guyen (Release Manager), Soili L ehrer (Klocwork), Byron S chiel, Mike S lavik, Eric L im, Swapna A roskar (Model Assembly), Nikhil W agle (ALT).
Check out Weird Al's White and Nerdy YouTube. Oh, how I can relate. "I could sure kick your butt in a game of ping pong. I'll ace any trivia quiz you bring on. I'm fluent in JavaScript as well as Klingon. Shoppin' online for deals on some writable media. I edit, Wikipedia. I memorized 'Holy Grail' really well. I can recite it right now and have you ROTFLOL." |
| Add a comment |
|
| Wednesday October 25th, 2006 12:14 PM |
|
Rohit says:
Wade, belated birthday wishes... and how was your first marathon experience? :)
|
|
| Tuesday October 24th, 2006 11:21 PM |
|
Sook says:
Happy Birthday, Wade! And congratulations on finishing your first MARATHON!!
|
|
| Friday October 20th, 2006 08:00 PM |
|
DD says:
Good luck! mile 10 rules!
|
|
| Thursday October 19th, 2006 10:59 PM |
|
Wade says:
Just wanted to add a quick note. I'm off to Chicago Saturday morning and I'll be back in FL Tuesday night. Thanks for all the support everyone! And there's nothing wrong with knowing the numbers of pi or liking Jean-Luc Picard, unless you're a nerd! hehe
|
|
| Thursday October 19th, 2006 02:12 PM |
|
Candee says:
Love the video... However, there is no question, Jean-Luc Picard is the best Captain.
|
|
| Monday October 02nd, 2006 06:47 PM |
|
Sook says:
That DID remind me of you!! Although, what's wrong with doing Calculus for fun or knowing the numbers of pi?? *sigh*
|
|
| Monday October 02nd, 2006 04:43 PM |
|
Damian says:
Like the video.. It led me to this gem on You Tube "Brown and Nerdy":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbPRsfnJR_U&mode=related&search=
|
|
|
| 3 Men and a Hotel Bill |
Sunday October 01st, 2006 09:26 PM |
 Three men are traveling together and as it gets late, decide to stop for the night at the next hotel they come to. Well, a motel soon looms in sight, but it's VERY seedy looking. Being very tired, they decide "What the heck, at least it should be cheap."
Sure enough, when they go to the front desk, they find out it's only $30 for the night. They pay in advance, each chipping in $10, and go up to their room.
A little later, the manager checks in, and notices the bill for the men. Calling the bell boy over, he says, "I forgot, we're running a special, and those men should only have been charged $25. Here's their $5 back, take it up to them."
The bell boy is not thrilled with this, since he figures he won't get a tip for this, but on the way, he has a brain storm. He figures that since they paid in advance, they won't know if he "tips himself". So he puts $2 in his pocket, and proceeds to take the other $3 to the men. He explains what happened, and hands each of the men $1.
Now for the problem:
Since each of the men originally paid $10, and now have gotten $1 back they have each paid $9. 3 times 9 is 27, plus the $2 the bell boy kept equals only $29. What happened to the other $1??? |
| Add a comment |
|
| Monday October 02nd, 2006 04:49 PM |
|
Damian says:
The $2 that the bellboy kept should be subtracted from the 27 (not added).. to leave 25, which is what is still at the desk.
|
|
|
| Boo-yah! |
Tuesday September 12th, 2006 11:22 PM |
 Thought it was time to give a stock update: Right now I own MOT, HLEX, LNDC, YMI, AACE, and TYL and currently watching BEBE, COH, TM, BW, HSR, NVEC, and HRT. The stock that has made me the most money, IVAC, is now below the point I bought it. Something three months ago I wouldn't have believed could happen. I'm starting to pay attention to Gary Kaltbaum and Mark Cuban's Share Sleuth for some shorts. Still haven't thought too much about options. Gorilla is still my foundation and where I find most of the stocks to buy. I took a look at Jim Cramer's stocks that he recommended 3 months ago and wasn't impressed at all. Given that the last 3 months weren't very good, perhaps this was unfair. However, his short recommendations weren't very successful either. I'll watch Mad Money for entertainment, but that's about it. Overall, the commodities look like they've topped so time to start shorting gold and oil (recommendation from Gary K). And I wouldn't put too much into real estate either.
The 5th anniversary of 9/11 just passed. Byron and I watched the Path to 9/11 and couldn't believe how much the US knew about the bombers before the hijackings and how stupid the bombers were. Very frustrating. Also, I never knew about the planned attacks on Dec. 31, 1999. Thank goodness that one bomber started sweating like crazy when he crossed the border. The good news is it looks promising that a future attack on the scale of 9/11 seems unlikely to succeed. Probably US interests overseas will be the main targets.
The marathon training is going well. I ran 18 miles last weekend and have another 18-miler and one 21-miler training run before Chicago's 26.2 miles on October 22. So far so good. No injuries and the 18 miler wasn't too bad. I created a custom shirt on Zazzle to (possibly) wear during the marathon. I'll see how it turns out when I get it in the mail.
Videos were added and Indie Giant's featured item is now displayed. Woohoo! Candee posted more pictures of Lauren, I really like this one and this one! |
| Add a comment |
|
| Monday October 02nd, 2006 06:41 PM |
|
Sook says:
Awww, she's got a big BRAIN!
|
|
| Saturday September 30th, 2006 11:35 AM |
|
Wade says:
She's a cute little kid.
Even with the 99th percentile on the noggin. ;-)
|
|
| Sunday September 17th, 2006 07:10 PM |
|
Sook says:
Lauren has the prettiest eyes!!
|
|
|
| Declaring Victory |
Thursday August 17th, 2006 11:21 PM |
 Just wanted to summarize an interesting article in the Atlantic Monthly. Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are solely the author's and should not be attributed to the designer of this website.
It has almost been five years since 9/11 and the beginning of the war on terror. Instead of taking the viewpoint of where America stands after five years, the article tries to determine the current state of the conflict from the terrorist's perspective to figure out how America can win the war. By looking at the war on terror from al-Qaeda's eyes, the US is doing very well and the overall prospects look better than nearly all political rhetoric asserts.
The Taliban have been dispersed, al-Qaeda training camps dismantled, leaders captured or killed, and most importantly communication, travel, and money transfers are dangerous activities for the jihadists. Operations have been decentralized and the structure of al-Qaeda crumbling. The al-Qaeda that existed in 2001 simply no longer exists. Inspired, al-Qaeda style terrorist groups are still successful (Madrid, Bali, London), but the chances of a large-scale attack, a "second 9/11", have been significantly reduced. The Department of Homeland Security seems to have contributed little to the protection of the United States. $42 billion per year is spent to keep out the Mohammad Attas, but may also be keeping out the Andrew Groves and Sergey Brins (co-founders of Intel and Google, respectively). Security experts view airport spending largely for show and to assuage passenger's fears. The only real successes the terrorists have obtained are from our mistakes, where Iraq is our biggest mistake.
Historically, the US has been mostly concerned about the damage an enemy could do directly, such as the Soviet Union with nuclear missiles. In the modern brand of terrorist warfare, direct damage is limited. The danger is provoking the US into hurting itself. The response can be far more destructive than the deed itself. Take, for example, the anarchists of Europe in the nineteenth century that killed maybe 2,000 people. However, one anarchist's assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand sparked World War I, which in turn claimed a million lives and destroyed a civilization. So far the war in Iraq has advanced the jihadist cause because it generates a steady supply of Islamic victims; because it seems to prove Osama bin Laden’s contention that America lusts to occupy Islam’s sacred sites, abuse Muslim people, and steal Muslim resources; and because it raises the tantalizing possibility that humble Muslim insurgents, with cheap, primitive weapons, can once more ultimately destroy a superpower, as they believe they did to the Soviet Union in Afghanistan twenty years ago. If the United States stays in Iraq, it keeps making enemies. If it leaves, it goes dragging its tail. Documents captured after 9/11 showed that bin Laden hoped to provoke the United States into an invasion and occupation that would entail all the complications that have arisen in Iraq. His only error was to think that the place where Americans would get stuck would be Afghanistan. Economic jihad is one of the ways bin Laden promoted to take revenge on the infidels. Higher-priced oil has hurt America, but what has hurt more is the economic reaction bin Laden didn’t fully foresee. This is the systematic drag on public and private resources created by the undifferentiated need to be “secure.” Bin Laden said America’s deficit spending for Iraq and homeland security was “evidence of the success of the bleed-until-bankruptcy plan, with Allah’s permission.”
The US cannot spend decades cowering defensively. Terrorists can damage us but cannot destroy us. Their greatest weapon is the ability to provoke us. We determine our response and therefore have control of our destiny. Documented as al-Qaeda's strategy, “superpower baiting” relies on the predictability of the US to react in an extreme manner. What should the United States do? Declare that the "global war on terror" is over and that the US is victorious. A state of war encourages a state of fear, encourages the use of resources in a warlike manner, and perhaps worst of all, an open-ended war is an open-ended invitation to defeat. Sometime there will be more bombings, shootings, poisonings, and other disruptions in the United States. They will happen in the future because they have happened in the past (Oklahoma City; the Unabomber; the Tylenol poisonings; the Washington, D.C.-area snipers; the still-unsolved anthrax mailings; the countless shootings at schools; and so on). These previous episodes were not caused by Islamic extremists; future ones may well be. In all cases they represent a failure of the government to protect its people. But if they occur while the war is still on, they are enemy “victories,” not misfortunes of the sort that great nations suffer. They are also powerful provocations to another round of hasty reactions. The United States needs to shift its operations to a long-term, nonemergency basis. The United States can declare victory by saying that what is controllable has been controlled: Al-Qaeda Central has been broken up.
On a lighter note, the movie World Trade Center was great! Go see it! |
| Add a comment |
|
| Saturday August 26th, 2006 09:39 AM |
|
|
| Saturday August 19th, 2006 11:55 AM |
|
SR says:
Maybe I´ll check it out when I get back. .. AND I´ll bring a box of tissues.
|
|
|
| Hello Moto |
Sunday August 06th, 2006 08:34 AM |
 Are You Alive? That's what some of my friends are asking, so yes, I'm alive. My boss was on vacation for 3 weeks and I was filling in, yet all my other work still had to be done. So, basically I've been working too much this past month. Motorola recently unveiled the motofone intended to compete and gain market share against Nokia in the emerging markets (India and China). It's the first product of the SCPL product line, which is even thinner than the RAZR. The KRZR and RIZR were also announced to add to the Motorola lineup - PEBL, ROKR, SLVR, and Q. Sprint, who for a long time refused to carry Motorola phones, said their earnings are hurting because they aren't carrying the RAZR. They are now rapidly incorporating Motorola phones into their portfolio. Overall, Motorola is doing really well; Ed Z is doing good.
Byron, your outdoorsman cake rocks! I'm still waiting to see pics of the camo couch. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Thursday August 10th, 2006 05:27 PM |
|
Byron says:
ha - yeah that was a sweet cake.
|
|
|
| MySpace |
Sunday July 02nd, 2006 08:57 AM |
 Seems like everyone's either got a homepage: Byron, Andy,
Kevin, Nicki, Phillip, Moises, Candee, Dad, Allison, Kevin, Shea, Vijay or a MySpace account: Sook, Chris C, Natalie, Sidd, Rishi, Chris L, Sharif, Colleen. I guess everyone else has a life. ha. I still think MySpace is a crappy website (I'm not the only one) that somehow became popular. Seems like the only reason people use it is because everyone else uses it. Nonetheless, it proves it doesn't require a technology breakthrough or revolutionary idea to be successful. At least that's what I keep telling myself regarding IndieGiant. ha.
If you haven't seen the latest pics, check them out! Run for the Roses, Bahamas and Jamaica, and some more travels in the Everglades. The trip to Bahamas/Jamaica was my first cruise and it was great! My only complaint would be that the time spent in port is too short. I definitely want to go back to Jamaica, even if the crime rate is high. Probably head for Port Antonio.
I recently started using Opera and after fifteen minutes decided I'd never use IE again. Firefox is also very popular, but I'm kinda liking the Opera style. The WorldCup was disappointing as all my favorite teams are now out of the tournament as England and Brazil both lost yesterday. I'm very disappointed in Wayne Rooney for getting a red card. England played better the whole game and if they kept 11 players on the field they would have won. They sould have played Crouch instead. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Monday July 24th, 2006 01:33 PM |
|
Sook says:
And just before the race, he felt the need to pour a bottle of water all over himself. . .THAT was disturbing! Me and the other spectators tried to look away. . .
|
|
| Saturday July 22nd, 2006 01:05 AM |
|
|
| Friday July 21st, 2006 08:21 PM |
|
Wade says:
Yeah, that guy is disturbing. You should see him in full stride!
|
|
| Friday July 21st, 2006 07:55 PM |
|
Arnie says:
What's up with the dude running in his speedos?
|
|
| Monday July 10th, 2006 11:47 PM |
|
Byron says:
Opera is the bestest!
|
|
| Wednesday July 05th, 2006 01:53 PM |
|
Sook says:
Half a billion dollars?!? That's unreal! IndieGiant looks way better anyhow. :)
|
|
|
| Optometry Graduation |
Thursday June 08th, 2006 10:57 PM |
 Congratulations Doctor Sook on receiving your doctorate degree in Optometry! And to all the other optometrists: Jilma, Don, Jenny, and Julia! You're now stuck with eye jokes for the rest of your life. Getting dressed up to go to an Eye Ball...that's always a good one. All of Sook's family came down to celebrate. At the awards dinner Jilma was awarded valedictorian and I stole a bouquet of 24 roses. It was fun! Penny was happy to clean 'em up and put them in vases all around Sook's apartment. Then we had the big chinese dinner where we dined on jellyfish, clams, pork, chicken, fish, and lots of vegetables I've never heard of before. YKC and TKC also came down but Hannah and Sarah couldn't make it. Sook's Dad, brother, and family friends all came down for graduation as well.
Also, right before graduation was Sook's 27th birthday. As part of the celebration we went down to south beach and the hotel we stayed at happened to be...let's just say...very south beach. At first we didn't notice (and most others didn't notice as well), but the...well, just have a look at the hotel and see if you notice. Nonetheless, it turned out to be a great hotel with lots of character. The people along South Beach are always interesting as we strolled along Lincoln Rd and ate at Sook's favorite place, News Cafe. And I had forgotten how beautiful the beach was!
Brief run-down: After several hectic weeks, including a last-minute TTY issue, Racer Alpha was accepted and shipped to Sprint/Nextel. Corporate Run pics from April were posted here. I signed up for the Chicago marathon. Yes, the full 26.2 miles. Thryambak is getting married in October. I found FSC (Fox Soccer Channel) on the satellite which broadcasts 24 hours of soccer! IndieGiant keeps making record profits every month. Bernanke and the Fed are wreaking havoc on my portfolio as I'm now stopped out of most of my stocks and waiting for a turn-around to jump back in. |
| Add a comment |
|
| Sunday July 30th, 2006 12:46 PM |
|
Amy says:
Congratulations, Sook!!! I've never met Jilma, Don, Jenny or Julia, but congratulations to you, too! :-) Sorry it's taken me so long to catch up on all the latest news, guys.... I'm a slacker.
|
|
| Saturday June 17th, 2006 09:48 AM |
|
Wade says:
Thanks for posting everyone! Suzy, I didn't even know you knew about my site. Yes, I'll be there for Christmas! Arnie, my number is fine. My Nextel number is forwarded to a Sprint number (703 area code) since we're making Sprint phones now. The 703 number will be changing regularly, but my 954 number will always be forwarded to the correct Sprint account.
|
|
| Thursday June 15th, 2006 09:24 PM |
|
Sook says:
Thanks guys! I miss school already. . .well, sort of. . .
|
|
| Thursday June 15th, 2006 01:53 AM |
|
Arnie says:
Congrats Sook, Jill, and Don, welcome to the world of the professional...soon you'll be wishing you were back in school :).
Wade by the way something is wrong with your cell phone, when I try to call you I get diverted to a 703 number???!!!!
|
|
| Tuesday June 13th, 2006 09:57 PM |
|
Suzy says:
Very interesting hotel to say the least Wade! I bet that was fun. Take care and hope to see you at Christmas!
|
|
| Friday June 09th, 2006 10:51 PM |
|
Leslie says:
Ditto to Phillip's comment--Congrats Sook!
|
|
| Friday June 09th, 2006 09:56 PM |
|
Phillip says:
Congratulations Sook!
|
|
|
| The Group of Death |
Tuesday May 30th, 2006 09:00 PM |
 USA enters the 2006 World Cup in Group E, the group of death. Two out of the four teams in each group advance to the next round. We should have no trouble against Ghana, but second-ranked Czech Republic and Italy are going to be difficult. In addition, this group is bad because the second place team that advances will most likely play Brazil in the next round. All the experts are predicting Italy and Czech Republic to advance, so let's hope for an upset. It all starts June 9th! My next favorite team, England, is pitted against a tough Sweden squad, but should easily advance with Trinidad & Tobago and Paraguay as the other two teams in their group. Predictions:
Group A - Germany & Poland
Group B - England & Sweden
Group C - Argentinia & Netherlands
Group D - Mexico & Portugal
Group E - Czech Republic & USA
Group F - Brazil & Japan
Group G - France & Korea
Group H - Spain & Ukraine
Marco Van Basten coaches the Netherlands national team and Jurgen Klinsmann coaches the German national team, both players I grew up watching in the Italian Soccer League. I'll be rooting for the Oranjes! |
| Add a comment |
|
| Thursday June 15th, 2006 01:55 AM |
|
Arnie says:
GO AFRICA!!! I'm rooting for all the under dog African teams :)
|
|
| Tuesday June 13th, 2006 12:06 PM |
|
Nicki says:
WOOHOO, finally some sports I can watch!!!!
|
|
| Tuesday June 06th, 2006 09:40 PM |
|
DD says:
There's no point in playing the WC, just give the trophey to the Czechs.
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=ap-wcupnotebook&prov=ap&type=lgns
|
|
| Sunday June 04th, 2006 12:20 PM |
|
DD says:
Ouch! Damian, you better get one of those hand held tv's and hide it in your tux so you can take a peak at the game. Just don't jump up and shout when T&T scores! :-)
|
|
|
